redpath and h



R. REDPATH AND H. HELLBERG.

AUTOMATIC TIME FUSE SETTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1918.

Patented June 24, 191 9.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

N A Q a i 9 E & WN m w 9N R. REDPATH AND H. HELLBERG.

AUTOMATIC TIME FUSE SETTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1918.

1 307,639. Patented June 24, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. REDPATH AND H.'HELLBERG. AUTOMATlC TIME FUSE SETTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-19.1918. 1 07,639. Patented June 24, 1919.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- ROBERT REDPATH AND HELGE THE COVENTRY onmmncn ENGLAND.

HELLBERG. OF COVENTRY, ENGLAND. ASSIGNORS TO WORKS LIMITED, OF ORCDNANCE WORKS, COVENTRY,

AUTOMATIC TIME-ruse SET'I'ER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 1119 24, 1919,

Application filed February 19, 1918. Serial No. 218,136.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Ronnu'r REDPATH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and Hanoi. lluLLiu-zuu. also a subject of the same King, both residing at OrdnancelVorks, Coventry. England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Time-Fuse Setters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means whereby the time ring of a shell fuse can be automatically set.

Our invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 of which is a left hand elevation partly in section of a magazine and part of a gun, Fig. 2 is a plan, Fig. 3 is a rear elevation partly in section and Figs. T and 5 are vertical sections showing the parts in different positions. Figs. (3 and T are detail views of devices for turning the jaw which grips the rim of the cartridge case.

1 is the-gun carried in acradle 2 and having a breech block 3. The gun and breech block recoil together and at the end of recoil the breech block is retained in its rearmost position by any convenient means which are not shown as they form no part of this invention. The barrel immediately returns to battery leaving the breech block behind it. As the barrel reaches its foremost position the breech block is released and moves forward. A groove 4 is cut in the right hand side of the breech block and in thisgroove work two spring plungers 5, (3. The plunger 5 is carried by a rod 7 capable of vertical movement on the cradle, and the plunger 6 is similarly carried by a rod 8 capable of vertical movement. The gt-cav 4: is so cut that as the breech block moves to the rear the plungers are not moved vertically, butt-he front part of the groove is deeper than the rear part so that toward thefiend of recoil the plungers move inward under the pressure of their springs, and as the block moves forward the shoulder formed by the deepening of the groove causes the plungers to ride up the inclined portion at. shown plainly in 'Fig. 1, and they then return to their original positions in the groove. The top of the rod 7 is slotted at. 9 to embrace a pin 10 upon a quadrant 11 fast on a spindle 12; this quadrant has upon it teeth meshing with a rack 13 so that as the quadrant is turned anti-clockwise therack. is moved to the left. The rack is pivoted to one arm of a lever 14 on a vertical pivot 15, the other arm being pivoted to a second rack 16 meshing with a toothed quadrant 17 on a second spindle 18. The two spindles 12 and 18 pass forward at each side of the magazine and their front ends carry feed cams 19 which support the projectile of the lowest round in the magazine 20. As therefore the breech block commences to move forward, the two feed cams 19 are moved quickly from the posi-- tion shown in Fig.4to that shown in Fig. 5 to lower the projectile, so that/the continued movement of the breech block can thrust it into the chamber, and this continued movement also, owing to the shape of the groove 4, returns the cams 19 to the position shown in Fig. 4, so that they catch the projectile of the next'round. It will be seen from Figs. 4 and 5 that the cams are so shaped that they prevent the second round from descending during the greater part of their movement. The rod 8 is connected by a link 21 to an arm22 upon a longitudinal shaft 23, journaled on the cradle. At the first portion therefore of the forward movement of the breech block this shaft will be rocked through a small angle clockwise and then back through the same angle. At the forward end of the shaft is a toothed segment. 24 meshing with a second segment 25 fast on a spindle 26 which is capable. of longitudinal movement in its bearings 27 it can be set in these bearings by means of a fork 28 upon a cross shaft 29 fast on which is an arm 30 provided with a handle 31 by means of which it can be set upon a rack 32 against which an indicator 33 upon the arm 30 can be read- The spindle 26 has cut in it a helical keyway 34 in which works a key in the bore of asegment 35 which is toothed or milled to engage the milled exterior of the time ring 36 of a fuse 37 of a projectile 38. The segment 35 isincapable of longitudinal movement and it will be seen therefore that longitudinal movement of the spindle 26 will rotate the segment 35 and. that when the spindle 26 is rocked by means of the gear 25, 24,-from the shaft 23, the segment 35 will also be rocked; thus the longitudinal position of the spindle 26 determines the angular position of the segment 35, and when the latter is rocked counterclockwise it will rotate the time ring 36 through an anglewhich is dependent upon the longitudinal position of the spindle 26. The segment 35 moves idly through a small angle before it engages the time ring and the amount of idle movement depends upon the position of the spindle 26. 39 is a jaw adapted to grip the rim 40 of the cartridge case and to prevent the latter from rotating while the fuse is being set. This jaw is turned upon its pivot 41 by means of an arm 42 fast with it and engaging an inclined groove 43 in a sleeve 44 upon the shaft 23.

To provide for differences in dimensions of cartridge cases the sleeve is provided with a spring 45 which will give slightly should any abnormal end load come on to the sleeve.

It is necessary also to disengage the fuse from the teeth of segment 35 before the round moves down toward the gun, otherwise its movement would alter the fuse setting. For this purpose we pivot to the magazine a small lever 46 which is provided with a jaw to engage the rim 40 of the cartridge and also with a toe engaged by a cam 47 upon the spindle 18; 4:8 is a spring plunger adapted to keep the toe 11pv to the cam.

In order to hold the cartridge more securely the rim 40 and the corresponding parts of 39 and 46 are serrated. To prevent the rear end of the cartridge from falling into the loading position two ledges or shoulders 49 are provided on the cradle so that the cartridge cannot falluntil it has been pushed a short distance.

The sequence of operations is as follows, the letters referring to the lines in Fi 1 which show the position of the front face of the breech block at the various stages of its forward movement a to b, 39 turned to grip case.

a to c, 35 turned down to set fuse.

'0 to (l, cam 47 acts to push around slightly forward so that teeth on 36 are disengaged from teeth on 35.

' ter actuated by the shaft.

nally.

groove, means for feeding cartridges to the gun, a fuse setter actuated by the plunger and means for adjustin" the fuse setter. In a gun, the com ination. of a longitudinally reciprocating breech block, a groove cut in the side thereof, a plunger entering the groove and capable of vertical movement, a longitudinal shaft capable of... being rocked by the plunger and a fuse set 4. In a gun, the combination of a longitudinally reciprocating breech block, a groove cut in the side thereof, a plunger entering the groove and capable of vertical movement, a longitudinal shaft capable of being rocked by the plunger, a spindle geared to the shaft, and a toothed segment adapted to engage the toothed time ring of the fuse. n Y

5. In a gun, the combination of a longitudinally reciprocating breech block, a groove cut in the side thereof, a plunger entering the groove and capable of vertical movement, a longitudinal shaft capable of bein rocked by the plunger, alongitudinal spin le geared to the shaft and capable of axial movement, a helical groove in the spindle, a segment mounted on the spindle, a key upon the segment meshing with the groove and teeth upon the segment adapted to engage the toothed time ring of the fuse.

6. In a gun, the combination of a longitudinally reciprocating breech block, a groove cut in the side thereof, a plunger entering the groove and capable of vertical movement, a longitudinal shaft capable of being rocked by the plunger, a longitudinal spindle geared to the shaft and capable of axial movement, a helical groove in the spindle, a segment mounted on the spindle, a key 'upon the segment meshing with the groove, teeth upon the segment adapted to engage the toothed time ring of the fuse and means for adjusting the shaft longitudi- 7. In a gun, the combination of a longitudinally reciprocating breech block, means for feedingcartridges down to the gun, a fuse setter adapted to engage and turn the time rings of the fuses and means for mov- 116 ing the cartridges forward to free the time rings from enga ement with the fuse setter.

8. In a gun, I516 combination of a'longitudinally reciprocating breech block, a magazine, a pair of feed cams pivoted to the 120 magazine and adapted to feed cartridges one by one from the magazine to the gun, means actuated by the movement of the breech block for rocking the cams and a fuse setter actuated by the movement of the breech block and adapted to turn the time rings of the fuses.

9. In a gun the combination of a longitudinally reclproca-ting breech block, a groove cut in the side thereof, a magazine. a

pair of feed cams pivoted to the magazine, and adapted toturn the time rings of the a plunger capable of vertical movement and fuses.

. entering the groove, means whereby the In testimony that we claim the foregoing 10 movement of the plunger rocks the cams, a as our invention we have slgned our names second plunger also capable of vertical this fourteenth day of January, 1918. movement, and entering the groove and a ROBERT REDPATH. fuse setter operated by this second plunger HELGE HELLBERG. 

